Australian singer Olivia Newton-John has won four Grammys, sung five number-one singles and crossed genres from country to pop.
As an actress, she first made her mark playing Sandy in Grease, then followed that with memorable roles in Xanadu and Two of a Kind. Olivia even played on our team as a lesbian in Del Shores' Sordid Lives and in the AIDS drama It's My Party. She appeared on Glee and, most recently, as mother in the movie A Few Best Men, where she sings on the soundtrack.
She brings a new cookbook project with her and will perform at Market Days in Chicago to get the crowds going this summer.
Windy City Times: Hi, Olivia. I just read that you wanted to be a country singer in the beginning.
Olivia Newton-John: Well, I was a country singer but I didn't plan on being a country singer at all. What happened was my manager and my producer thought my voice suited that kind of music. John Ralston wrote me some country music; in fact, "If Not For You" that was my very first hit. Then I found myself being a country singer but it is not something I planned at all.
WCT: It must be so rewarding to have new generations of fans watching Grease.
Olivia Newton-John: It's fantastic. Every seven years a new crop comes up! [Laughs] They discover the movie through their parents or grandparents. When I do my concerts, there is every age group there.
WCT: You performed in Sordid Lives, cementing your gay following.
Olivia Newton-John: Sordid Lives was fantastic. Del Shores is a good friend of mine. He is a very talented man.
WCT: You have had some wild fans over the years. What has the craziest thing a fan has asked of you?
Olivia Newton-John: I once had a fan ask to marry me onstage. He had a ring and came to the front of the stage. I thought he was joking at first; then I realized he wasn't.
WCT: Oh no! What did you say?
Olivia Newton-John: I was very touched by it but it was little over the top. It was definitely memorable.
WCT: How was working on the set of Glee with Jane Lynch?
Olivia Newton-John: Fun. I had a good laugh.
WCT: Your new movie is A Few Best Men. Will this be released in the States this year?
Olivia Newton-John: I hope so. It is doing real well in Europe, Russia and Asia. It has not been generally released yet. I am hoping it will be released in August in London after the Olympics. I'm excited because it is a really funny, crazy movie. Have you seen it?
WCT: No, not yet. I listened to the soundtrack today. There are some tracks on it that you could perform at Market Days.
Olivia Newton-John: Yes, I know. The soundtrack is a lot of fun.
WCT: The Love Boat theme was on there.
Olivia Newton-John: It is really funny in the movie when it plays, and then I did it in a different way.
WCT: The Monkees' "Daydream Believer" was a track as well. It was so sad that Davy Jones passed away.
Olivia Newton-John: I know! It was really just a short time after we put that out that we lost Davy Jones. It was really sad.
WCT: Tell me about this new cookbook you have out.
Olivia Newton-John: It is called Livwise: Easy Recipes for a Healthy, Happy Life. It will raise money for my Cancer and Wellness Center in Australia. It will make some money. I can't believe it.
WCT: What kinds of recipes? Is it Australian cuisine?
Olivia Newton-John: The recipes are written from my spa in Australia. We have amazing chefs that cook fro our organic garden that is doing really well. We have a lot of recipes from there. We have recipes from my nutritionist in Melbourne, who is a lady who healed herself with greens. There are also my own recipes with an introduction about food. I wrote the introduction about how my mother brought me up and I was conscious of food and eating well. It is a lovely book. The pictures are very pretty, too, from my health retreat, Gaia.
WCT: So healthy eating?
Olivia Newton-John: Yes, and the fact that you can enjoy it, too.
WCT: Do you have houses all over the place?
Olivia Newton-John: I live in Florida with my husband and I have a home in Australia.
WCT: That is a huge flight to go to Australia.
Olivia Newton-John: Yeah but I am used to it from flying back and forth.
WCT: Did you see Xanadu the musical?
Olivia Newton-John: I saw it. I went to the opening night. I thought it was really funny. I laughed probably more than anybody else.
WCT: It was campy but the music still was so good.
Olivia Newton-John: The music is great. I thought it was pretty fun.
WCT: One of the Gibb brothers died recently. You must have been very close with the family.
Olivia Newton-John: Barry was a really good friend of mine. We were close to each other. It was really sad about Robin Gibb. It gave me more drive to find the cure for cancer, which I believe we are close to. I really do. I think it will be found in the next five to 10 years. We have seen the end of TB. We thought TB would never go and now you don't hear about it anymore. People were dying of that. We will find a cure for it.
WCT: You have dedicated your life to helping with that and done incredible work.
Olivia Newton-John: Thank you.
WCT: Do you still talk to John Travolta?
Olivia Newton-John: I do. He is a good friend.
WCT: There will be tons of people at Market Days. What songs will you be singing?
Olivia Newton-John: I will do the best known hits. Because it is a Market Days thing it will probably be pretty lively. Maybe I will do one or two off the new soundtrack because that would be fun and they are kind of dancy things. Does the crowd like dancing?
WCT: Oh, yeah! They will go crazy.
Olivia Newton-John: Are they standing?
WCT: Yes, and it should be packed.
Olivia Newton-John: Then I will do a couple from the soundtrack. That will be good.
WCT: What do you do to take care of your voice?
Olivia Newton-John: I do exercises and Stevie Real, who sings with me, is my singing coach. We have lessons to keep it in shape. She showed me how to work it. I pay more attention now then when I was young and took it for granted.
WCT: You have some really high notes to sing.
Olivia Newton-John: Yeah, it's amazing we can still get there.
WCT: I went to your Koala Blue store in Nashville one time. It was ahead of its time.
Olivia Newton-John: [Laughs] Yes it was. We had a really cool store and we enjoyed it for a really long time.
WCT: What do you think of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman that have done so well and are also from Australia?
Olivia Newton-John: It's terrible. Of course I'm thrilled! [Both laugh.]
WCT: Are they stealing your thunder from down under?
Olivia Newton-John: Of course not. I have always advocated that we have more talent in our country than anywhere else in the world and now it is proven to be so. It is probably because the number of people we have in Australia per capita compared to other places in the world have more successful actors and musicians than anywhere else even in Hollywood now. We have so many. It is fantastic.
WCT: Would you ever want to do another musical?
Olivia Newton-John: It really depends, you know. I just did this new movie and it has music in it and a bunch of stuff. I just can't fit it all in. I would like to do more but just didn't have time. Life is amazing and very rich and full. I just want to have more downtime if I can, at least next year anyway.
Olivia Newton-John performs Sunday, Aug. 12, at 9 p.m. at the North Stage Rivers Casino on Halsted Street near Addison. Visit www.northhalsted.com for a complete schedule.
In case you miss it or want to beat the heat, head over to her show at The Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd, on Saturday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m.
